The chief constable of West Midlands police has retired after the home secretary withdrew confidence in his leadership over the handling of a ban on Israeli football supporters attending a match in Birmingham.
Craig Guildford stepped down after days of intense scrutiny following Shabana Mahmood’s statement to parliament, but critics said his departure allowed him to escape formal disciplinary action and accountability for a decision that had drawn condemnation from ministers, the inspectorate and MPs.
Simon Foster, the West Midlands police and crime commissioner, had resisted calls to sack Guildford and said he would wait for further reports, including from the home affairs select committee — a stance opponents said prolonged uncertainty at the top of the force.
On Friday afternoon Guildford, 52, announced that it would be his last day in the £220,000 a year post, saying the “political and media frenzy” meant his position had become “detrimental” to the force.
It marked the second time Guildford — who was the national police lead for professional standards — has retired, having controversially done so in 2024 before being rehired the following month under a plan intended to preserve elements of his pension.
Unlike dismissal for criminal misconduct, retirement does not affect accrued police pension rights. Guildford would not necessarily have lost his pension even if he had been sacked, as that punishment is reserved for those guilty of serious criminal conduct.
There was no indication that Guildford negotiated a notice period or severance package, arrangements that are sometimes agreed when senior police chiefs leave their posts.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said that allowing Guildford to retire instead of being sacked was “simply not good enough”. Philp said he should face gross misconduct proceedings and on Friday night wrote to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) calling for it to investigate.
Mahmood withdrew confidence in Guildford on Wednesday after His Majesty’s Chief Inspector Sir Andy Cooke sent her the preliminary findings into the police’s handling of November’s football match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv. She also announced that in future she would restore the power allowing a home secretary to sack a police chief.
It is understood that the West Midlands force is conducting an assessment of any potential misconduct by Guildford before deciding whether to refer matters to the IOPC. The watchdog said it was carrying out its own inquiries.
Rachel Watson, director-general of the IOPC, said its interest “does not end following his decision to step down” and it has sought additional evidence from Cooke.
“We will continue examining all available evidence to inform our assessment of whether we should undertake any independent conduct investigations,” she said. “If that is the case, we’ve said we are prepared to use our powers of initiative to independently investigate in the absence of formal referrals.”
Ayoub Khan, the local independent MP, told Times Radio that the events of the past few days had been a “witch hunt” and that the West Midlands had “lost a principled police officer who did not bow to political pressure”.
Cooke’s review detailed a litany of inaccuracies in West Midlands police’s report to the local Safety Advisory Group that concluded allowing fans was “high risk”. Guildford was personally implicated because he had reviewed and approved the report to the advisory group.
It found that Guildford’s force had retrofitted “exaggerated and untrue” evidence to justify banning away supporters, made misleading public statements and failed to properly engage with the Jewish community.
The report also said that West Midlands police was guilty of “confirmation bias”, focusing on intelligence to support its desire for a ban rather than following the evidence.
The force admitted it did not publicly reveal other relevant information, such as the risk to Israeli fans from locals, in an effort to “avoid increasing local community tension”.
Guildford apologised on Wednesday after admitting that false intelligence about a fictitious Maccabi Tel Aviv fixture against West Ham, also referenced in the advisory group report, was generated by AI — something he denied when he gave evidence to the home affairs select committee last week.
In response to his retirement, Mahmood, who became the first home secretary in more than 20 years to declare no confidence in a police chief, said: “The findings of the chief inspector were damning. By stepping down, Craig Guildford has done the right thing.
“I would like to acknowledge his years of service, and I pay tribute to the work of the officers in West Midlands police, who keep their community safe every day. Today marks a crucial first step to rebuilding trust and confidence in the force among all the communities they serve.”
Martyn Underhill, a former police and crime commissioner, said Guildford’s exit was “saving his grace and saving his reputation”.
He said Foster had the alternative option to suspend Guildford and place him under misconduct investigation over his evidence to parliament and other issues. However, this would have drawn out the process over many months and kept the force in the spotlight.
“This gets him gone quickly,” said Underhill. “But it really is the best result Craig Guildford could have got.”
Gideon Falter, chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Under Craig Guildford’s leadership, West Midlands police lied and obfuscated, victim-blaming Jews instead of taking on the Islamists.
“His retirement, after the pitiful failure of West Midlands police and crime commissioner Simon Foster to sack him, should result in the resignation of Mr Foster as well.”
• How the Maccabi Tel Aviv ban unravelled into a policing scandal
Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, said: “The man behind the fabricated intelligence that led to Israeli fans being banned from Villa Park has finally left office.
“We need public authorities to know this is what happens when you do deals with Islamists and you don’t treat people equally. We need to know what kind of country we are.
“We need to know who holds the power in modern Britain. Because in Birmingham, the police took the side of Islamists. That is completely wrong, and we are not going to let matters rest there.”
In a statement, Guildford said: “I have come to the conclusion that the political and media frenzy around myself and my position has become detrimental to all the great work undertaken by my officers and staff in serving communities across the West Midlands.
“I have carefully considered my position and concluded that retirement is in the best interests of the organisation, myself and my family. It has been the honour of my career serving as the chief constable of West Midlands police.”
The force said that deputy chief constable Scott Green would take up Guildford’s role on a temporary basis.